Mostly via Sheryl Cohen of CEF (as quoted below): Final 2018 Appropriations. Putting aside, for the moment, the dealmaking that needs to be done just to extend the current CR for a few more weeks, there is still going to be the matter of actually negotiating a final FY 2018 spending bill. Regarding the negotiations on the caps (increasing these self-imposed limits on spending needs to be negotiated before a *final* bill can be enacted): "Republicans want to raise the defense cap by $72 billion – more than eliminating the $54 billion sequester cut – for FY 2018, but do not want to raise the NDD cap by the same amount. Democrats continue to insist on parity between increases for defense and NDD, which previous budget deals have maintained. There’s no official proposal, but the rumors are that Democrats have rejected an offer to raise the NDD cap by $45 billion. As a reminder, the NDD sequester cap level for FY 2018 is $516 billion, and the defense cap is $549 billion. The President’s FY 2018 budget proposed to cut NDD to $462 billion, and to increase defense discretionary funding to $603 billion.” Earmarks may be back! "Today and tomorrow the House Rules Committee will be hearing from Members of Congress and selected others on the merits of restoring earmarks to the appropriations process. Rules Committee Chair Pete Sessions (R-TX), Appropriations Committee Chair Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bill Shuster (R-PA) are developing a proposal to restore a system of “transparent, merit-based earmarks” in time for the fiscal year 2019 appropriations cycle. Fiscal conservatives remain opposed to earmarks, but President Trump last week said he could support their return.” Puerto Rico sign-on letter. Finally, some of you may be interested in signing on to this AFT letter <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSyppxL7KcynQrfXITitcYKR1ob6vYEjxbRmtWYj0mJ32XgQ/viewform> supporting the bipartisan request for hearings <https://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/2017_12_21_Letter_to_Alexander_re_Hurricane_Irma.pdf> to assess and address the ongoing education and health crisis in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from last fall’s hurricanes. The deadline to sign on is Friday, January 19. BTW, did you notice that disaster relief is also not in the CR? They haven’t negotiated a deal on that, either. One more CR thing. I forgot to mention. It’s not just Freedom Caucus windbags, principled advocates, who may oppose the CR in the House, but also some more moderate Republicans who also wanted DACA to be addressed. I don’t think it’s fair or accurate to say that only Democrats are in favor of DACA; in the House, at least, there are Republicans who were also insisting on doing something about DACA in conjunction with the CR. Jeff